Silly Dog Names – Conversations with Stella and the Pack

I am Stella, Queen of the Olde English Bulldogges. I have a pretty name. It does not make any sense, but it is a good, solid name.

Me: It means “star”. My younger daughter named you when you came to us.

Stella: What was my name before? I don’t remember.

Me: Chata.

Stella: What does that mean?

Me: Well…it’s Spanish and it means…

Stella: What?

Me: Flat as in flat nose.

Stella: Hmmmpphh. So that’s what they thought of me. I like your daughter’s name for me better.

Me: You are a star.

Tiger: What about me?

Me: We called you Tiger when you came to us because you were fighting for your life. You are a fighter. And you have that brindle stripe design. So… Tiger.

Wiggles: And me?

Me: When you came, the first thing we noticed was that you never stop wiggling.

Wiggles: I guess that’s all right.

Miss Sweetie: And me? What about my name?

Me: It just came to me that you were the sweetest thing. So…

Miss Sweetie: Awwww. I think you are Miss Sweetie, too, except you are really Lady Human, and not as sweet as I am.

Me: Okay, fine.

Doodlebug: Why did you name me after a bug?

Me: Doodlebugs are not really bugs, though some people call them sow bugs or pill bugs. They are not insects. They are more closely related to lobsters than to bugs. And Tall Man named you that because of the narrow white mark in the middle of your forehead. He said you looked to him like a doodlebug because of that. If you look right at the head of a lot of doodlebugs, they have a little white mark in the middle of their heads. So…

Doodlebug: So, I got a silly name.

Me: Yeah, but Tall Man has always loved doodlebugs since he was a little boy. So…